The year 1739 in science and technology involved some significant events.

Earth sciences

• Plinian eruption of Mount Tarumae volcano in Japan.

Exploration

• January 1 – Bouvet Island is discovered by French explorer Jean-Baptiste Charles Bouvet de Lozier in the South Atlantic Ocean.

Mathematics

• Leonhard Euler solves the general homogeneous linear ordinary differential equation with constant coefficients.
• Euler invents the tonnetz (German for "tone-network"), a conceptual lattice diagram that shows a two-dimensional tonal pitch space created by the network of relationships between musical pitches in just intonation.^[1][2]

Physics

• Émilie du Châtelet publishes Dissertation sur la nature et la propagation du feu.

Awards

• Copley Medal: Stephen Hales^[3]

Societies

• June 2 – The Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences is founded in Stockholm by Linnaeus, Mårten Triewald and others.^[4]

Births

• November 14 – William Hewson, English surgeon, anatomist and physiologist, "father of haematology" (died 1774)
• December 14 – Pierre Samuel du Pont de Nemours, French industrialist (died 1817)
• Israel Lyons, English mathematician and botanist (died 1775)

Deaths

• April 19 – Nicholas Saunderson, English scientist and mathematician (born 1682)
• April 27 – Nicolas Sarrabat, French scientist, astronomer and mathematician (born 1698)